CCTV caught Pawel Lenard and Magdalena Rezler pulling dozens of scent boxes into baskets before switching them to their luggage

Two Polish shoplifters who took cheap flights to the UK to pinch duty-free perfumes were jailed yesterday.

CCTV caught Pawel Lenard, 35, and Magdalena Rezler, 34, pulling dozens of scent boxes into baskets before switching them to their luggage.

They were held at Bristol Airport after amassing a £4,588 haul.

They both got two months after admitting theft.

At Bristol crown court, Recorder David Evans told the pair, from the Polish town of Krzyz Wielkopolski, he wished to ban them from Britain but could not.

The judge sentenced both to two months in prison but acknowledged they had already spent a month in custody after being arrested - and would probably be released instantly.

"Much as I would like to prevent the two of you from ever coming back to this country, I cannot," the judge told them. "I don't have the power."

The court was told Lenard and Rezler booked cheap flights from Poland to British airports in July, August, September, October and December of last year.

The pair flew between Poland, Bristol and either Glasgow or Edinburgh before returning to Poland.

"You came to this country purely to steal," the judge said. "You did so repeatedly.

"You were waiting for your connecting flights and entered World Duty Free. Acting as a team over the course of an hour or more, you would take high value perfumes from the shelves, moving the stock behind forward so no-one would notice.

"You then filled your trolley cases which you had brought for one purpose only, to fill with stolen goods and take back to Poland.

"These were not offences carried out because you were desperately needy. You were desperately greedy."

Prosecuting, John Perry said it was suspected the pair had carried out numerous like offences while travelling in British airports before being caught.

The first theft the pair admitted occurred on October 20 last year, when they arrived at Bristol Airport after taking a Ryanair flight from Poznan, Poland.

"They were waiting for a connecting flight to Glasgow," Mr Perry told the court.

"They both had trolley cases. Mr Lenard was taking perfume bottles from the shelf and putting them in a basket held by Miss Rezler.

"They then walked to the confectionery area of the shop, which is not covered by CCTV. They returned with no bottles of perfume visible and repeated the offence."

Experts estimate the value of perfume taken on that occasion to be at least £1,950.20, Mr Perry said.

On December 15, Lenard and Rezler again arrived at Bristol Airport, this time from Polish airport Gdansk to travel on to Edinburgh, then to Stansted and finally to Warsaw.

Mr Perry said: "This was a circular trip taking in airports. It wasn't to visit any actual countries."

The pair repeated their previous actions but were stopped by police as they waited to board their flight. In total, 40 boxes of perfume worth £2,638.40 were found in their bags.

In police interview, both admitted the theft. They later pleaded guilty to two counts of theft at Bristol Crown Court.

The court heard neither Lenard nor Rezler are wanted by Polish authorities for any crimes but both have previous convictions, Lenard a driving matter and Rezler for stalking in 2002.

Mr Perry said the pair had flown between Britain and Poland in July, August and September, carrying out similar routes to when they committed the thefts.

"There is a strong chance that these defendants are professionally involved in using duty free shops in order to take stock from them," Mr Perry said.

Tristan Harwood, for Lenard, said his client had carried out the thefts because his job at an electrical equipment warehouse did not cover his mortgage.

Mr Harwood said: "He promises me he wants to go home and be done with the whole affair."

Ed Burgess, for Rezler, said she had been separated from her 10-year-old son since her arrest.

"She is anxious to leave this country as fast as possible and return to her family," Mr Burgess said.

Speaking after the case, Pc Neil Payne from Avon and Somerset Police's Ports Unit said: "On the return leg of their second trip they had booked an extra piece of hold baggage each and it is clear they were expecting to return home to Poland with much more than they brought with them.

"This was an audacious shoplifting attempt but one we were ultimately able to interrupt.

"It was a vigilant passenger who first pointed out the pair to airport staff, an action which has started a chain reaction which has enabled today's court result and to that person I say thank you."